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LEADING the WAY Returning

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LEADING the WAY Returning The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies November 2016 / Heshvan 5777 AVRUTA HDammara Rose Kovnats Hall (Summer ’16, PCJE ’16-’19) “I am thrilled to be part of the Pardes Educators Program, where the high caliber of teaching stimulates deep learning and the heartfelt commitment of the teachers and support of the Pardes community inspires true spiritual growth.” Returning New Faces to Zion Old Issues BEHIND THE SCENES: HOW WE KEEP OUR ORCHARD BLOOMING LEADING THE WAY CREATING PURSUERS of PEACE Jewish learning know that these texts are rich, nuanced, Why Study and filled with thought-provoking ideas and arguments. Studying Bible, Mishna, Talmud and Jewish Thought often Torah? puts us up against the bigger questions of life. It takes us out of our routine concerns and daily decision-making, forcing us to confront questions of morality and meaning. As many of us know from our Pardes experience, it has the power to transform. Unlike superficial learning, there are any Jews see ancient no pat answers and we are often left with more questions texts as irrelevant to than answers. Yet we emerge fuller and richer for the Ma post-modern world. process. Antiquated. Misogynistic. Even immoral. And honestly, the classical texts of the Jewish tradition are very old, and The study of Torah also connects us with the genius often challenging to us, who seem to live in a very different of the Jewish people. It connects us to our ancestors, world. But is our world really so different? ancient, medieval, and modern, even if that connection is to disagree with them. We become part of a chain, In certain ways, it is – computers, cell phones and linked to a tradition and culture that spans continents industrial production have changed our lives. In other and generations. ways, however, the French proverb holds true: plus ca change, plus c’est la même chose, the more things We join the “Jewish conversation” over these texts, change, the more they stay the same. adding our own post-modern understanding and our own hiddushim (insights). The many voices we encounter Human nature and human relationships have changed in Torah study can transform us to become more human, little over the centuries. The most important issues in more moral, and more understanding, while strengthening life are surprisingly not so different: the need to provide our identity and making life more meaningful. for oneself and one’s family, love, and balancing concern for oneself with concern for others, to name a few. And Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks wrote (The Times, UK, while our reality is changed, the quest to find something July 2004), “My life is a chapter in a book begun by my beyond remains, whether we call it a spiritual journey or ancestors long ago, to which I will add my contribution meaning-making. before handing it on to my children. Life has meaning when it is part of a story, and the larger the story, the Torah often challenges current beliefs, but that is good, more our imaginative horizons grow.” This is the Pardes too. Foon a kashe, shtorbnisht, goes the Yiddish saying: mission: to open the doors of study as wide as possible, to From a hard question, nobody dies. There is something help all Jews deepen their understanding of the tradition frustrating, yet refreshing about having our assumptions to which we are all heirs. questioned. Those who have experienced deep, intensive Dr. David I. Bernstein is the Dean & Interim President of Pardes. EUROPE Pardes has expanded its Our faculty has been teaching European Leadership Fellowship, across Europe too, including in St. for emerging European Jewish Petersburg, Budapest, Stockholm, professionals and educators. Paris, Zurich and beyond – in Three new slots are being community centers, synagogues, In the UK, Pardes has continued to generously funded by YESOD and Moishe Houses, Limmuds and grow with three packed Pop-Up Beit this year's larger cohort includes more! Midrash events at JW3, the London participants from Hungary, Jewish Community Centre. Nechama France and the UK. In addition Pardes student groups visited and Goldman Barash was a huge hit at to free Pardes tuition, fellows taught in Turkey and Germany, Limmud in the Woods and at the benefit from guest speakers, and will be traveling to Poland in Open Talmud Project and Rabbi Alex workshops and mentoring to January for a meaningful trip to Israel visited a number of university help create rich Jewish learning explore the 900-year history of the campuses in the fall. And there’s still in their home communities. Jewish community. Limmud UK before the year is out! 2 GLOBAL|Updates Pardes has been piloting lunch and learns in ISRAEL Israeli business centers. Pardes Israel Board Chair Sherwin Pomerantz initiated two events A series of alumni gatherings brought together students from the at Har Hotzvim in Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, alumnus last 44 years. In February, over 45 alumni from 1974-2015 attended Barak Platt (Year ‘90-’91) hosted Pardes at Azrieli a reception with Rabbi Meir Schweiger. Before Purim, Debbie (Year Towers with Rabbi Dr. Daniel Roth who explored ‘85-’86) and Eliot (Year ‘82-’83, ‘85-’86) Zimelman hosted a Modiin the tension between pursuing success in business event with over 20 guests, who enjoyed a shiur from Rabbi David and adhering to the principles of Jewish ethics. Levin-Kruss. In May, Dean Dr. David & Ricki Bernstein hosted a reception for over 40 guests with a shiur by alumnus and former faculty member Rabbi Aryeh Ben David (Year ‘79-'80). NORTH AMERICA This year, we launched a new venture to create grassroots-led, Pardes-style batei midrash across North America. Pardes will support local initiatives according to their needs, with the aim to provide open and inviting Jewish learning spaces, just like Pardes in Jerusalem. First stop, Brooklyn! In March, alumni and like- minded peers started the Brooklyn Beit Midrash: Powered by Pardes. The BBM has successfully established a monthly learning gathering with 40-50 people at each event. This year, a new twist was added to the Summer Program. In addition to the three-week July program, a two-week August program was offered, particularly popular with those who could not take three weeks off from work. Over 120 students, from 13 The Pardes Center for countries, experienced an action-packed summer, in and out of Jewish Educators is the classroom, including 18 Hillel professionals who returned to excited to announce the campus inspired by their time at Pardes. start of a pilot project focusing on middle school tefilah (prayer) in Jewish day schools. Congratulations to Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper whose second volume of Relics for the Present was Thanks to a generous grant from the AVI CHAI published earlier this year. Using Tractate Berakhot Foundation, five schools in the Greater New as the foundational text, Levi utilizes a unique York area will benefit from two years of training combination of Talmudic wisdom, rabbinical and implementation with the aim of addressing commentary and Hasidic lore, to transform ancient the challenges of tefilah and tefilah education teachings into inspiring vignettes for everyday life. in their schools. Books available at www.korenpub.com. Pardes taught over 200 classes in North America This summer, faculty and staff participated in a transgender during 2015-16 of which over 100 were taught by sensitivity training run by Eshel – an organization working to create Rabba Yaffa Epstein, North American Director community and acceptance for LGBTQ Jews and their families. The of Education. These included 11 local Moishe workshop offered practical tools to address the needs of students House events, 3 Moishe House retreats, 7 who do not identify with the traditional gender binary and provided Limmuds (including Mexico for the first time) a forum to share questions and concerns, learn a new language and over 30 events on 26 campuses. Yaffa also of gender inclusion and discuss the evolving nature of how we taught at Hillel's Global Assembly, Educators' understand gender. Kallah and Springboard Fellowship Training. 3 ALUMNI|Check-in ACROSS THE DECADES 1970s DAVID BARISH 1980s LEWIS WARSHAUER David Barish (Year ’72-'73) grew “I felt totally at sea.” That’s how up active in the Reform movement Lewis Warshauer (Year ‘81- and during an archeological dig ‘82, ‘91-‘92) describes his first in Israel, he heard about a new encounter with Pardes, when he program called Pardes. David went walked into Regina Stein’s humash from uncovering history to making class. Lewis came to Pardes after it, by joining the inaugural class of working in real estate and realizing the world’s first coeducational beit midrash. David reflects, that his Jewish education was sorely lacking. “Pardes gave “Pardes gave me direction that I didn’t have. It helped me me the entryway into all the Jewish study I’ve done since. form a vision of Judaism that is pluralistic, traditional and I needed to be in an open environment where men and based on the great literature of the Jewish people.” women studied together – which was rare at the time. The year taught me a lot: not just texts, but Jewish living.” David returned to the US to complete his studies and went on to Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati to earn his Ph.D. After returning to the US, Lewis, together with fellow in Jewish history, focusing on the late antiquities period. alumnus Phil Shaw, set up a US-based fundraising arm for Pardes. It has grown to be a core component of Pardes’s David left academia and joined the family business, Chair global operations. Lewis was part of this growth every step King – now the largest outdoor furniture retailer in the US.
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